There is a growing concensus among art professionals that marketing and public relations coupled with commercialism is affecting what is presented as "art" at present. Coupled with the lack of connoisseurship on the part of collectors and sometimes even art dealers, quality is declining in the skill of making art as well as the images, themselves. Meaning is lost. Obvious contemporary political and social messages prevail, while subtlety, enigma, mystery, and spiritual insights are too often absent.

As the late sculptor, Christopher Wilmarth once said, exiting an exhibition at a gallery in New York, "If it hasn't got magic, it's only merchandise."